“I Am Khama”: Animated Film Tells Story of Tswana King Who Stood Up to British Imperialism.
“It is 1895 and Her Majesty, Queen Victoria, governs half the World. King Khama, a charismatic African ruler, is furious. The British Government is about to give control of his country, The Bechuanaland Protectorate, to Cecil Rhodes, the richest diamond tycoon in the World, who will remove Khama and put his people under the shackles of colonial rule. Khama rushes to England accompanied by two eccentric kings and a young white schoolboy who insists he’s African, and loathes the English. The three kings make a whirlwind tour of Britain trying to gather enough support to save their country ‘for our children and our children’s children’. Success! Support floods in from all over the land. But then? Disaster! Khama discovers that all is lost unless he can discover Rhodes’ real plan: to use Bechuanaland as a platform, attack Johannesburg and steal all its gold. Khama discovers the plot and threatens exposure. The Government is forced to surrender. Khama goes to Windsor Castle and charms Queen Victoria, who formalises the new agreement. Khama has saved his country for the future. Bechuanaland is now called The Republic of Botswana, and is Africa’s success story.”
Joining the emerging trend of animated films set in African countries during the Trans-Atlantic slave trade and European colonial eras is the upcoming motion picture I Am Khama.
Written by Mark Macauley, and brought to life through the talents of Ben and William animation studios, this feature length film tells the story of King Khama III of Botswana (then Bechuanaland) and his campaign against British imperialist Cecil Rhodes. The film stars actors John Kani (Chief Batwen), John Cleese (Sir Henry Loch), Colin Salmon (Khama), Conleth Hill (Cecil Rhodes) and Steve Toussaint (Sekgoma).
As the synopsis above explains, Khama travelled to Britain in 1895 along with two other chiefs from neighbouring ethnic groups to convince Queen Victoria to protect their people from economic plunder by Cecil Rhodes’ British South African Company to the north, and white settler demands from the south. It is believed that if Khama had been unable to successfully lobby the British authorities for ‘protectorate’ status (the lesser of two evils, of course), much of today’s Botswana would have been incorporated into - and destined to the same fate as - its colonies Rhodesia and South Africa.
Quite frankly, the sooner films telling stories of the plunder of the African continent like this make it into the mainstream, the better. The accessible medium of animation has wide appeal across various demographics, creating the reach that is necessary for important historical storytelling of this kind. Outraged public reaction to the BBC’s recently-aired two-part documentary Britain’s Forgotten Slave Owners has shown us just how poorly Britain’s horrific history of enslavement of Africans and colonial past is known and understood in Britain today. Presented by British-Nigerian historian David Olusoga, part one of the series delved into the ways in which the British economy was built on the kidnapping and enslavement of people from countries along the Western coast of Africa. In addition to this BBC documentary series, earlier this year we witnessed an outcry against the blatant signs and symbols of British colonial imprint in Africa when the legacy of Cecil Rhodes was openly and successfully challenged by a student-led group of activists in South Africa, resulting in a campaign that gained support throughout the country and went viral globally.
Unfortunately, history that casts a light on the full scale of atrocities committed by the British is not a compulsory part of our education curriculum and imperialist proponents continue to be glorified in popular culture. The prime example is wartime Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who has been in the media even more than usual this year following special events marking the 50th anniversary of his state funeral in 1965. Many Brits would however be surprised to hear Churchill ordered the reallocation of food from already malnourished Indian civilians to well-supplied British soldiers, leading to the 1943 Bengal Famine. Around four million people died.
Though it is still in post-production and is scheduled for a 2018 release date, stories like I Am Khama are an important part of re-writing history from the perspective of those whose lives and experiences were erased and marginalised, rather than that of the oppressors and colonisers - as we are accustomed to in Europe. Accounts like these may be well known in countries like Botswana, but for many of people in the UK, they are unknown.
Alice McCool is an anti-corruption campaigner and masters student at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies. You can follow her at @McCoolingtons. Views expressed on here and on there are personal.
Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Soundcloud | Mixcloud
yousharknotpass
gummygunk
